Dossier
“ Death will always arrive too soon.” Many people have experienced the fear of death, but what if it is suddenly eclipsed by a fear of life? An interview with ethicist and theologian Georg Pfleiderer on death in the modern world, shame and what all that has to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Text: Cornelia Niggli
Why are people scared of death? “Anticipating death is part of what makes us human,” says Professor Georg Pfleiderer. Unlike other organisms, humans are conscious of the fact that life is finite. The fears associated with this knowledge are complex. On the one hand, we fear a painful death, and on the other, we are afraid of the absolute finality, the end of life and the nothingness that awaits us. “This fear is tightly bound up with the significance we attach to our possessions in life. By that I
“ We are incredibly afraid of losing face. That fear has likely never been so extreme as it is now in the Internet age.”
mean both material and immaterial possessions, such as the ideals by which we live and social resources such as interpersonal relationships or access to education. The loss of these types of possessions generally arouses fear,” adds the ethicist. According to Pfleiderer, fear of death is a phenomenon all humans share, but one which has become particularly acute in the modern era. He supports this assertion by quoting German sociologist Max Weber (1864 –1920), who reflected: “The way we live today, there is scarcely a single commodity in our Western world so dear to us as our own life and experience. The world is constantly changing. With those changes come endless possibilities for novel experiences. Seen in that light, death will always arrive too soon.” For modern humans – and even more for their postmodern counterparts – fear of missing out, or FOMO, is the source of both aspiration and anxiety. Weber believed that modern people no longer achieve a sense of full and final satisfaction in life as once described in ancient texts and biblical stories.
Georg Pfleiderer
Has death become a taboo subject in the modern world? “We don’t keep death under wraps,” says Pfleiderer in response. “We probably talk more about death and dying today than at any other point in history, at least in the media.” There used to be a common under-
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